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Good morning. One of the biggest long-term trends in America is continuing to move in a surprising direction as violent crime falls faster than many experts expected.

Investors are also watching global markets after Japan's currency hit a four-decade low, while a major film franchise continues building one of Hollywood's most anticipated casts.

Plus, we'll cover the latest from Washington, world affairs, business, science, sports, and culture.

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The US murder rate is now flirting with the all-time low, reversing years of concern about a "new normal" of elevated violent crime. Data across major cities show the decline is broad-based rather than concentrated in a few metros.

Criminologists cite a combination of post-pandemic policing returns, sustained community-violence-intervention investment, and demographic changes. Explanations do not yet match the size of the drop, and researchers say the trend is running well ahead of most published forecasts from 2023.

The Supreme Court also upheld state bans on transgender athletes in girls' and women's school sports, siding with Idaho and West Virginia. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for the majority, finding the laws create no Title IX violation because schools may maintain sex-segregated teams.

More than two dozen states now enforce similar bans, following Idaho's original 2020 law that sparked years of litigation. Trump celebrated the decision as a "BIG WIN" online, further energizing a fight both sides expect to reach Congress next.

The Justice Department and 17 state attorneys general reached a $3.3 million settlement with Cal-Maine Foods, Versova, and Hickman's Egg Ranch over alleged multi-year coordination that "artificially increased" egg prices. Producers denied wrongdoing and agreed to donate roughly 53 million eggs — worth about $9.7 million at retail — to food banks.

The investigation began more than a year ago after retail egg prices spiked 150% year-over-year in February 2023, the largest annual jump on record. Cal-Maine and Versova continue to point to the historic bird-flu outbreak as the primary driver of the price surge.

Afghanistan's Taliban government struck along the border with Pakistan Tuesday, hitting targets in Balochistan and injuring several people. Islamabad says it downed four drones in response and warned of a "befitting response" to further attacks.

As Canada celebrates its birthday, independence movements in two provinces are once again eyeing the exit door. PM Mark Carney faces overlapping Alberta separation-referendum and Quebec sovereignty pressures during his second year in power.

China's new ethnic unity law gives Beijing legal authority to go after critics beyond its borders, rights groups say. Law is drawing sharp criticism from Uyghur, Tibetan, and Hong Kong diaspora organizations in Europe and North America.

The Supreme Court erased party spending limits that had capped coordinated spending between parties and candidates for fifty years. Republicans, including Vice President JD Vance, brought the case that continues a deregulatory trend since Citizens United.

Democratic socialist Melat Kiros, 29, beat a 15-term incumbent Tuesday, unseating Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette in a primary upset. Kiros would become just the third sitting democratic socialist in the House if she wins in November.

Federal workforce Pell Grants officially open July 1 to fund short-term workforce training programs at community colleges. Just 12 states have finalized road maps for colleges to apply, leaving most of the country without eligible programs on day one.

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BMW said it will manufacture a new electric SUV at its Spartanburg, South Carolina plant, doubling down on EVs even as U.S. rivals retreat and swallow billions in losses. The bet is that European engineering plus American assembly can outlast the current EV chill.

Japan's yen hit a 40-year low against the dollar as futures eased following Wall Street's strongest first half in five years. Nasdaq led the pack, up nearly 13% since January, while the Russell 2000 posted its best half since 1991.

Michael Burry disclosed a short position in Caterpillar after the stock nearly doubled during the 2026 AI infrastructure rally. Burry said it was his first time shorting the industrial giant, which had "always done great" for him on the long side.

New multi-agent AI systems can now generate and test hypotheses for drug repurposing and antimicrobial resistance research, two new Nature studies show. Scientists say the tools cooperate like lab partners, proposing experiments and then analyzing the results themselves.

The US Commerce Department lifted its export ban on Anthropic's advanced AI models, restoring access starting Wednesday. Anthropic had agreed to added security safeguards after officials worried the models could aid hackers.

KKR and South Korea's SK are launching a $1.3 billion platform combining wind, solar, and fuel-cell power. Demand from AI data centers and chip factories is driving the buildout toward a 10-gigawatt pipeline.

Dave Roberts became the fastest manager in MLB history to 1,000 career wins after the Dodgers beat the Athletics 9-3 yesterday. Tommy Edman added four hits, including his first home run of the season.

Dansby Swanson hit two of Chicago's five home runs as the Cubs beat the Padres 9-7 for their fourth straight win. Chicago's lineup is now the hottest in the NL Central entering July.

Mexico advanced past the round of 16 with a win over Ecuador, ending a 40-year knockout drought. The country had lost seven consecutive times at that same stage between 1994 and 2018.

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'Dutton Ranch' tapped a new showrunner, naming 'SEAL Team' creator Benjamin Cavell after Chad Feehan's exit. Paramount+'s 'Yellowstone' spinoff already set a streaming record with 12.9 million views for its first two episodes.

Monica Barbaro is in talks to join the "Ocean's Eleven" prequel opposite Margot Robbie and Bradley Cooper, with Wagner Moura set as the villain. The Warner Bros. project is one of the year's most closely watched cast builds.

Victor Willis, the Village People frontman and co-writer of "YMCA," has died at 74. Willis remained active as the band's original lead vocalist through most of the past decade before health complications forced his retirement.

What it is: Climate change is closing in on the two species that supply nearly all of the world's coffee, arabica and robusta, which together account for roughly 10 million tonnes grown every year. Rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, and new pest pressure are shrinking the narrow band of conditions both plants need to thrive, and breeders are racing to find replacements before supply chains buckle.

The detail: In Ethiopia, where coffee originated, researchers are preserving genetic diversity through protected conservation areas and a living collection of more than 12,000 plants, hedging against the loss of wild varieties that could carry climate resilience. Scientists elsewhere are testing lesser-known species like Liberica and Excelsa, along with a hybrid nicknamed "libex" that some professional tasters reportedly cannot distinguish from classic arabica in blind cupping sessions.

Why it matters: More than 100 million people worldwide depend on coffee farming for their livelihood, and most of them are smallholders without the capital to absorb a bad harvest or switch crops on short notice. A supply shock wouldn't just raise café prices — it would hit some of the most climate-vulnerable farming communities on earth first and hardest.

What to watch: Breeding a hardier bean is one problem; convincing farmers and consumers to embrace an unfamiliar flavor profile at scale is another entirely. Watch for pilot plantings of libex and Excelsa to expand over the next few growing seasons, and for whether major roasters start blending alternative species into mainstream products before the crisis becomes irreversible.

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